Legion to Obama: Restore Mojave cross

The American Legion is asking President Barack Obama to restore the Mojave Desert cross.

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A letter signed by The American Legion is asking President Barack Obama to restore the Mojave Desert Veterans Memorial cross. The letter, which also copied U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, was signed by National Commander Clarence Hill and also included signatures from the heads of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Military Order of the Purple Heart, and Liberty Institute and the veterans counsel for Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP.

This spring, the U.S. Supreme Court overruled lower federal courts' decisions to tear down the memorial because of a misplaced belief that it was a religious icon on federal land. Soon after the ruling, the memorial was ripped down and carried away by vandals.

"This act was abhorrent and constitutes a federal crime under the Veterans' Memorial Preservation and Recognition Act of 2003. And it defies the rule of law, flouting a binding decision of the U.S. Supreme Court," the letter states. "If Arlington National Cemetery were similarly desecrated, that desecration would be rectified immediately, and rightly so. Unfortunately, however, the National Park Service and the Department of Justice are refusing our request to replace the stolen memorial."

The letter goes on to state that the National Park Service hasn't restored the memorial because it is complying with a lower court order, which in their interpretation, the Supreme Court decision did not fully address. Henry Sandoz, the caretaker of the memorial for the last 26 years, has built an exact replica of what was torn down and is ready to reinstall it.

"This impasse is at a point where we now need your intervention as our nation's leader, Mr. President, on decisive action to direct restoration of the memorial to its original form," the letter reads. "It is in your power to direct the National Park Service and the Department of Justice to immediately restore the Memorial. And, on behalf of our nation's veterans, we humbly ask you to do so, as Commander in Chief and as the sole officer constitutionally charged to take care that the laws are faithfully executed." Anyone who wants to sign their name onto to the letter can do so here.

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rtjc23

our founding fathers were for the most part church goers, Christian as a matter of fact. many did not believe in DENOMINATIONS. i remember before my leaving for europe, i was asked what denomination for my dog tags...i responded with CHRISTIAN...and had a lenghty argument until CHRISTIAN was annotated.
our constitution is based on the CHRISTIAN BIBLE.
and when one looks at all the veteran cemetaries, you mainly see a cross for the CHRISTIAN vet.
put the cross back up already and be done with it!

Freethinker

What has made the United States great is that it's NOT a christian nation. We're not like Iraq or the other theocracies. Why insist on instigating religious wars? Just study your history and and you'll discover that the Founding Fathers were more than clear on this point. There MUST be a separation of church and state!!!

budrock

sir,you ar sorely misinformed,
the "separation of church and state" as written into the constitution simply means the govrnment cannot establish a "national religon" as great briton did with the "church of england",and furthermore,this country has ben stablishd as a christian nation,but has been attacked on all sides by the likes of you and your misinterpretation of the constitution to met your own particular agenda,which is to tear this country down from the inside and reform it into something YOU WOULD NOT LIKE IF IT HAPPENED!!WE WORKD LONG AND HARD TO DISMANTLE THE "DMOCRATIC RUSSIAN RPUBLIC" AND NOW YOU THINK WE ARE GOING TO ALLOW YOU TO FORM OUR COUNTRY
INTO SOMTHING LIKE IT??SEEMS LIKE YOU AND MR.OBAMA HAVE FORGOTTEN THE MILLIONS OF US WHO FOUGHT FOR UOR COUNTRY AND HAVE NO INTENTION OF LTTING YOU OR ANYONE ELSE CONVERT IT?THINK AGAIN.CHUMP!!!!

HT2PSM

Amendment I
Congress shall make no LAW respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the FREE exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances. There is no place in the 1st amendment that says SEPERATION OF CHURCH AND STATE Lower FEDERAL Court! And who do the Nat'l Park Service & Dept of Justice think they are to DEFY the supureme court's decision for 1. And 2, not investiagte whole heartedly the crimials who did this act. We have lost too many and my family has lost too many (my Son-n-Law,Sgt USMC 10/2010)for our FREEDOM. Our WW1 Vets put up the cross to honor the fallen & Congress didn't change the 1st amendment, so NO COURT HAS THE RIGHT TO TAKE IT DOWN IN THE 1st PLACE!!! Don't ask the President, DEMAND that he fulfills His DUTY & make the Nat'l Park Service & the Dept of Justice work for him & he work for US !!!

rakazwg

The ACLU has forgotten it's roots. They started out to protect rights and they have become sidetracked with every little nose-picking childish complaint. This IS AMERICA, where those before me and my brothers and those after us have all taken an oath to protect those rights. ACLU has also forgotten who gave those rights to the people that they are supposedly protecting. They need to re-asses what they stand for. Either join those of us who are protecting our country, or dis-ban your so-called organization for the people.

Bartski

Neither the federal government nor the American Legion should have anything to do with this issue. Whatever happened to Separation of Church and State. Contrary to popular belief, this country was not founded as a Christian state. The Founding Fathers were Deists not Christian.

EShattuck

Regarless of the religion of the Founding Fathers, the phrase "Separation of Church and State" is not within the Constitution. If enough of the Founding Fathers had actually believed in "Separation of Church and State", they could have put in there, but they didn't. The fact that it is not there leaves it even more widely open to reinterpretation than the words that are actually there.
Additionally, the Supreme Court found that the lower court had made mistakes in its ruling and that the case should return to that court. The vandals who took the cross down are directly interfering with this legal process. Taking the cross was an act of mob-rule not rule-of-law. Which of those two do you want to live under?

bpnorr

I think most of my american Legion brothers knows Obama cares nothing about us or the Cross. He has his agenda and it is not what some of us fought and died for. So if some are expecting something good from this man, you may be waiting for a while. best we can hope for is we get a congress in November that can stop the destruction of our country. B. Norris Post 305

Pauline Bailey

Like everything else in life there is a positive and negative side to every issue, problem, story and most definitely laws including God's laws of nature and nature in relationship to all human laws about the nurture of that nature. Even with the Constitution there are responsbilities that govern the rights thus dividing the equal rights and shared responsibilities of one party from the equal rights and shared responsibilities of the other party. Who is the party that is violating these shared responsbilities and therefore abusing theirs/others equal rights? Positive side - For God and Democracy (equality, humnaity) or the Negative side For god/idols/Satan and Dictatorships and Domination (inequality, inhumanity) over other members of the human race? What are the motives, intents, purposes, objectives, opportunity on both sides of all laws, social manners/rules/etiquette, etc?
What are the rewards for obedience to the rules and what are the consequences for disobedience?